Chase recently announced some temporary benefits for Chase Sapphire Preferred & Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholders. Most readers won’t be eligible to sign up for either card due to the 5/24 rule, but some will have the Chase Sapphire Preferred and might want to consider upgrading to the Chase Sapphire Reserve. Some things to note:
- Chase Sapphire Preferred has a $95 annual fee, Chase Sapphire Reserve has a $550 annual fee. Datapoints indicate that upgrades are currently receiving a $450 annual fee (1, 2). Update: Seems most people are getting charged a $550 fee now. This changes what is discussed below.
- Chase Sapphire Reserve comes with a $300 travel credit. Until December this credit can also be used towards gas and grocery store purchases
- Cardholders can offset grocery store, dining and home improvement store purchases using points. The value you get depends on the card you hold:
- Chase Sapphire Preferred: 1.25¢ per point
- Chase Sapphire Reserve: 1.5¢ per point
Should You Upgrade?
First of all if you can apply for the Chase Sapphire Reserve card directly and get approved, then that will be your best option as that way you’ll get the 50,000 point sign up bonus. As mentioned most readers won’t be able to do that due to the 5/24 rule.
The annual fee difference between the cards is $355, this is offset by the $300 credit that is much easier to use than before. That leaves a difference of $55 (or more if you don’t value the credit at $300). The Sapphire Reserve also comes with Priority Pass access, that won’t be that useful for most people currently but might become more useful as the year progresses and travel opens up more. If we value that benefit at $0 then there is still a difference of $55.
If you redeem more than 22,000 points for the new ‘Pay Yourself Back’ feature you’ll be better off upgrading to the Chase Sapphire Reserve. If you redeem less than 22,000 points you’ll be better off keeping the Chase Sapphire Preferred. Obviously this figure will change if you value the Priority Pass access at more than $0 or if you value the $300 credit at less than $300, this is just an example. For most people I do think upgrading makes sense at this moment.
